Waymo Robotaxis Stall During San Francisco Power Outage
The Spin
Techno-skeptic narrative
San Francisco’s blackout revealed the limits of Waymo’s robotaxis: when infrastructure fails, they freeze, stranding passengers and halting traffic. These incidents show autonomous vehicles are still far from the “set it and forget it” future tech companies tout. Fragility in real-world chaos raises serious questions — what happens during earthquakes, wildfires, or other emergencies? Driverless cars remain dependent on perfect conditions rather than providing truly reliable, hands-off transportation.
Techno-optimist narrative
While San Francisco’s outage briefly stalled Waymo’s robotaxis, autonomous vehicles clearly remain the smarter choice for the future. In 2025, Waymo completed over 14 million rides — helping commuters, travelers, and even mothers giving birth in the backseat — while achieving a 10-fold reduction in serious-injury crashes versus human drivers. As the company expands to new cities and airports, the data and safety record make one thing clear: the future of transportation is autonomous — and better for people.
Narrative C
San Francisco’s blackout exposed a stark difference in autonomous tech: Waymo’s robotaxis froze at intersections, stranded passengers and added to gridlock, while Teslas on Full Self-Driving navigated the same chaos without interruption. The outage highlights a key divide: Waymo’s AI relies on orderly maps and signals, whereas Tesla’s system, trained on billions of real-world miles, handles disorder — proving that resilience matters as much as automation. In the battle of the robotaxi wars, Tesla is clearly pulling ahead.